subdue
pronunciation
How to pronounce subdue in British English:
UK [səbˈdju:]
How to pronounce subdue in American English:
US [səbˈdu]
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- Verb:
- put down by force or intimidation
- to put down by force or authority
- hold within limits and control
- get on top of; deal with successfully
- make subordinate, dependent, or subservient
- correct by punishment or discipline
Word Origin
- subdue
- subdue: [14] Subdue denotes etymologically ‘lead away’. It came via Anglo-Norman *subduer from Latin subdūcere ‘lead away, withdraw’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘from under, away’ and dūcere ‘lead’ (source of English duct, duke, etc). The sense ‘conquer, subjugate, suppress’ arose through association with the long defunct and quite unrelated English subdit ‘subject’, which came from subditus, the past participle of Latin subdere ‘bring under, subjugate’.=> duct, duke
- subdue (v.)
- late 14c., "to conquer and reduce to subjection," from Old French souduire, but this meant "deceive, seduce," from Latin subducere "draw away, lead away, carry off; withdraw" (see subduce). The primary sense in English seems to have been taken in Anglo-French from Latin subdere and attached to this word. Related: Subdued; subduing. As an associated noun, subdual is attested from 1670s (subduction having acquired other senses).
Example
- 1. The king cobra can subdue its dinner without suffering from any venomous counterattack .
- 2. Many believe that stalin reckoned that such ruthless tactics would permanently weaken the poles , and make them a much easier people to subdue .
- 3. Through it all , fagan shows how humans followed similar paths around the world to try to tame , subdue and master water , and how it really masters us .
- 4. You can read commencement addresses from the 19th and early 20th centuries in which the speakers would talk about the beast within and the need for iron character to subdue it .
- 5. Today the afghan war has morphed into a war against the pashtuns - perhaps the most war-like people on earth , whom two great empires before us , the russian and the british , failed to subdue .